A Realistic Look at Annual Funds

Is there a larger role for social media here? Is there a future for mass solicitation? Can we sustain the annual-giving program? Most assuredly. But let’s think more deeply about these issues than we’ve thought in the past. These new times will require a new creativity, and they can bring us a new success. The golden age of philanthropy is not past — unless we allow it to be so. Fundraising is quite essentially the business of optimism, and optimism (not necessity) is the mother of invention. FS

James P. Daniel is a partner at Bentz Whaley Flessner. Reach him at jdaniel@bwf.com